WHITE PAPER

Are You Ready?

4 Keys to Becoming a CEO

By: William Pasmore

Contents
Introduction 1
The Candidate’s View 2
The CEO’s View 3
Finding and Fixing the Missing Pieces 4
CEO Failure by the Numbers 9
4 Keys to CEO Readiness 10
The Path to CEO Success Starts Here 18
Conclusion 20
About the Author 21
Introduction
An impressive track record is not enough to prepare you for
being a CEO—necessary, but not enough.
The CEO job is fundamentally different from any other senior
leadership role. Until you’ve lived it, you can’t fully know what
it’s like. But there are steps you can take to be prepared.
In our work with corporate Boards, CEOs, and human resourc-
es executives, we see too many companies that wait too long
or fail to take the right steps to prepare candidates for the top
job. And too few candidates have taken a close look at—much
less developed—the full range of what it takes to succeed as
the top leader. It’s not surprising, then, that almost half of all
CEOs fail and companies struggle with short-tenured chief
executives.
For companies looking to improve the outlook for CEO suc-
cession, the first piece of advice we give is to start sooner and
plan more. The same advice goes for individual leaders, if you
have ambitions for the top job.
The second recommendation is to understand the differences
between being a senior leader and being the CEO. This is the crux
of the challenge to prepare CEO candidates. The development
plans and experiences, mind-sets and skill sets, networks and
mentors that helped bring someone to the point of successful
senior leadership do not guarantee success as a CEO.
The third recommendation is to give each candidate a tailored
opportunity to bridge any gaps before a selection is made. Create
a plan for potential CEOs to address their specific needs and
gain CEO-caliber experiences before they step up. If this isn’t
possible, as in the case of an emergency appointment, then be
prepared to provide support to the new CEO in critical areas
where experience is lacking.
We’ve found that the well-prepared CEO shows four kinds of
“readiness”—experience, personal, network, and relationship
readiness. CEO candidates want to be sure they’ve got all four
areas covered before they step into the spotlight—and the top
job. This paper addresses each type of readiness; first, let’s
look at the succession process from the perspective of the
candidate and then the current CEO and Board.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 1

 The Candidate’s View
If you have CEO ambitions, you look
impressive on paper.
You probably run a major business unit
or function. You’ve gotten degrees and
training from a top business school. One
or more international assignments are
under your belt. You have a track record
of stellar performance and a fair amount
of political savvy. You may even believe
you are your company’s top candidate to
succeed the current CEO.
Alternatively, you might not see a clear
path to the top seat in your current com-
pany. A CEO spot with a competitor or
in a different industry could be the right
move. The right recruiter just may get
your attention.
It’s also possible that you’re eager, but
not yet ready. You know you lack critical
experience or other qualifications that
will keep you out of the CEO role. If you
aren’t getting the attention and prepa-
ration you need from your own organi-
zation, you may be wondering how to
bolster your resume and be prepared for
a future opportunity.
Each of these scenarios is common in the
upper levels of leadership in large orga-
nizations. As a potential CEO candidate,
you need to be fully—and realistically—
prepared to do the job. You need to be
sure you are ready to be CEO.
2 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
But you also need to realize that it’s not
what you think that matters. When it
comes to selecting a CEO, it’s what the
current chief executive and the Board of
Directors thinks.
We’ve seen many instances of CEO can-
didates being caught by surprise when
their CEO or Board chooses another
internal candidate for the job or finds a
successor through an external search.
These “votes of no confidence” can be
damaging to one’s ego and career pros-
pects.
We’ve also worked with senior leaders
who play their hand with a recruiter, or
jump ship to gain new experience, at the
wrong time. You need to be ready to go
and fully prepared when you take that
step. Don’t risk burning bridges before
it’s wise to do so.
The question for
potential CEOs becomes:
What will prepare you
to be CEO in your own
mind and—more impor-
tant—in the judgment
of others?
The CEO’s View
The CEO of one of the major retail
chains in the world—we’ll call him J.P.—
was looking to step down when he real-
ized his potential successors weren’t
prepared to take his place.
The short list of candidates weren’t
lacking knowledge. They had been to
some of the best business schools and
training programs in the world. And
they all had the right experience, run-
ning major business units or holding
key executive positions. Most had man-
aged international operations. Each
of them probably thought they were
ready to move up.
But J.P. was well aware that until you
actually become the person in the cor-
ner office, you can’t imagine what the
job is really like. He needed to prepare
the candidates to take the big step, but
how?
Sending a candidate for a short course
to fill a gap wouldn’t add greatly to his
or her impressive knowledge and dem-
onstrated abilities. A lateral move into
another business unit or a different cor-
porate function would provide another
perspective, but that alone wouldn’t
prepare the candidate for what lies
ahead, either.
J.P. shared his concerns with the senior
vice president of human resources.
They hit upon a different approach.
First, J.P. reflected on his own ascen-
sion and tenure. He made a list of the
things about the job that he hadn’t
understood and consequently wasn’t
prepared to handle. He considered the
pressures the next CEO would confront
on day one—and realized there would
be little room for error and on-the-job
learning once the successor was in
place.
With this clarity, J.P. and the SVP-HR, in
collaboration with CCL, created individ-
ual plans tailored to the specific needs
of each candidate. Over the next 18
months, each candidate was provided
experiences, mentoring, feedback, and
connections that would fill in any gaps,
mitigate weaknesses, and provide a
clear-eyed view of the CEO role. At the
end of the period a successor was cho-
sen, and he has done brilliantly in the
job ever since.
Like J.P., the question
current CEOs—and
Boards of Directors—
should be asking is:
What would it take to
prepare the next-in-line
CEO?
©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 3
Finding and Fixing the Missing Pieces
As J.P. contemplated how to prepare his potential
successors, he hit upon several insights for find-
ing and fixing the missing pieces in the company’s
CEO succession plans. These six factors reflected
much of our own experience working to prepare
CEOs, as well. They hold lessons for both organi-
zations and CEO candidates.
1. Doing more of the same
doesn’t make a difference.
Seasoning executives by leaving them in their
current roles longer will not add greatly to their
readiness to become CEO. Once a person has
been in a role for a few years, most of the sig-
nificant learning associated with that role has
been achieved. That’s why it’s a mistake to look
at years with the company or years in a particular
job as a surrogate for readiness. Instead, look to
the range of experiences or jobs they have had.
The retail company candidates had already held
both line and staff positions. Some had interna-
tional experience while others still needed to
4 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
obtain it. With enough time to plan a CEO succes-
sion sooner, the company might have had each
candidate go through another round of career
moves—which may or may not have been neces-
sary from a strategic standpoint. Instead, the CEO
set out to identify significant project assignments
that would present candidates with challenges
they hadn’t experienced.
One candidate who needed strategic planning
experience was asked to lead the company’s sce-
nario planning, responsible for everything from
bringing the right resources to the table to seeing
the plans through to execution. Another, who
needed more international experience, was asked
to attend international business forums includ-
ing the World Economic Forum and meetings at
the Council for Foreign Relations, and to lead the
company’s entry into a new geographic market.
Another, who was technologically challenged, was
given responsibility for leading the company’s
technology improvement initiatives. Each assign-
ment was both critically important to the com-
pany and developmental for the candidate.
Candidate Challenge:
Change it up. Staying in your current
role longer isn’t the key to readiness.
Nor is round after round of career
moves that build on what you already
do well. Honestly assess your weak
spots, identify skills you need, and seek
out challenges or roles that fill those
gaps. Note that you need to learn and
lead as you go—the ability to succeed
in unfamiliar territory is an essential
CEO skill.
2. Real-time mentoring
is powerful.
CEOs are extremely busy. With multiple people on
their leadership team, mentoring CEO candidates
is like exercising—it’s hard to find the time to do
enough of it to make a difference.
With his departure approaching, the retail CEO
renewed his commitment to mentoring succes-
sion candidates. Even if the candidates couldn’t
experience the world of the CEO directly, they
still engaged in observable behaviors that would
shape their future success in that role. Again,
thinking about each person individually, J.P. made
a list of the areas in which each person needed
to improve. Then, he looked for opportunities to
coach the person for improvement in that area.
Candidate Challenge:
Seek the CEO view. Ideally, your CEO
For example, J.P. paid attention to whether his will be involved and invested in mentor-
candidates were successful in attracting superior
talent and then how they assessed talent. When
ing potential candidates. If so, leverage
a candidate was generous with his assessments, those opportunities to understand per-
covering for loyal but underperforming leaders, ceived gaps in your readiness. The CEO
J.P. coached him on the consequences of his ac- is in the best place to help you connect
tions and demanded that performance issues be
your behaviors, skills, and weaknesses
dealt with more openly and candidly.
to what will be an asset as a CEO—and
In another instance, J.P. saw that one of his what might cause trouble. As Marshall
candidates avoided public speaking. The CEO
challenged him to become the company’s best
Goldsmith memorably put it, “What Got
spokesperson and assigned him several impor- You Here, Won’t Get You There.”
tant speaking opportunities. He worked with
the executive personally and also asked him to If your CEO is not currently in the busi-
work with peers and professionals to improve his ness of mentoring a replacement, get
speaking abilities. the perspective of someone else who
A third candidate, who had difficulty collaborating has held a CEO role. An outside mentor
with peers, was asked to take the lead on a major or an executive coach who specializes
initiative that required cross-functional support in working with C-suite leaders will help
across the entire organization. J.P. helped her you gain clarity and map out opportuni-
process the feedback she received from her peers
on her team leadership. ties for learning.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 5

3. The CEO has no shock absorber.
As a member of the senior team, outcomes of
decisions made by an individual leader are not
always visible to the Board or external bodies.
Performance metrics from one unit are merged
together with the results of other units in what
amounts to an internal portfolio of revenue and
expense management opportunities. When one
unit or function runs off the rails, the rest of the
organization covers up the problem. The senior
team member can count on the CEO and others to
absorb some of the shock of a poor strategic deci-
sion or operational issue.
6 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
As CEO, the shock absorber is gone. There is no
one else to blame for the poor performance of the
company. There are no other units to make up for
poorly handled operational issues.
To simulate the pressure that he felt as CEO, J.P.
had succession candidates take personal responsi-
bility for winning Board support for key strategic
initiatives—and then carrying the responsibility
for their success. Whereas it had been easy for
candidates to agree to the initiatives as members
of the senior team, it was quite another thing to
be held personally accountable for the success of
the initiative in the eyes of the Board. Since each
initiative required support from other members of
the leadership team, this process also taught the
candidates the value of collaboration, a skill they
had not always cultivated.
Candidate Challenge:
Learn to take a direct hit. Until you
are CEO, you have someone else to ab-
sorb some of the shock of a poor strate-
gic decision or an operational problem.
For CEOs, the shock absorber is gone.
No one else can share the blame for
poor performance. To get a sense of
this, make sure you are taking personal
responsibility for key, high-profile ini-
tiatives. Can you own the work without
micromanaging it? Can you take the
hits rather than looking for cover?
4. It’s not what you know,
it’s who you know.
Perhaps the single biggest shift one experiences
when taking the big step to CEO is the shift from
internal focus to external focus. To make this shift
successfully, it helps to have the right connections.
J.P. knew this from his own experience, and
started planning strategies to introduce his suc-
cession candidates to people they needed to know.
This included dining with Wall Street financiers,
introducing candidates to other CEOs at indus-
try events, attending meetings with government
officials, and ensuring that each candidate spent
ample one-on-one time with Board members. In
some cases, candidates were asked to accompany
Board members on international trips to visit the
company’s operations overseas. Such extended
opportunities for relationship building were criti-
cal to moving past the superficial interactions that
had taken place in the past.

Candidate Challenge:
Get introductions. Your internal net-
works may be solid. You have good
relationships with key customers and
suppliers. But how plugged in are you
beyond your immediate business? Do
you have ties throughout your industry?
With regulators? With experts in fields
related to the business? If not, start
building them.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 7

5. Board dynamics are a 6. Performance counts, but
different kettle of fish. development is essential.
CEOs of publicly held companies have a boss—the Candidates are usually so busy demonstrating their
Board of Directors. Even if the CEO holds the title success by performing at high levels that they don’t
of Board Chairman, a practice that has become less take time to focus on their own development.
widespread, the CEO still answers to the will of the
J.P. insisted that the candidates build time into their
Board. Due to the very public mismanagement by
schedules for development. Each worked with an
Boards of several prominent companies in recent
executive coach who wouldn’t sugarcoat what what
years, legislation has been passed to strengthen the
the candidate needed to hear and who would keep
independent influence of Boards over CEOs. For the
that candidate on track with his/her learning agenda.
most part, the days of the hip-pocket Board are gone.
J.P. also worked with each person to solidify that per-
Managing the Board consumed a great deal of J.P.’s son’s development plan and stayed involved to track
energy. He needed to shape the Board agenda and performance against the plan. When the time came
discussions and understand the subtle relationships for the Board to choose a successor, he didn’t want to
and politics among its members. J.P. made it a prior- feel that he hadn’t given each candidate every chance
ity to be sure members of the Board got to know each to be ready for the role.
CEO candidate personally, and that they shared their
perspectives and advice on how to work effectively
with the Board. Candidate Challenge:
Invest in your leadership readiness. It’s
tempting to think your track record of suc-
Candidate Challenge: cess and high level of performance in your
Learn the ways of the Board. Few CEO current job is the key to a CEO promotion.
candidates understand Board dynamics, But the CEO job will require something
so start learning now by taking leader- more of you—no matter how experienced
ship roles on Boards of local nonprofits. or skilled or savvy you are. If you want to be
Ask your boss or mentor to help you gain named CEO, and succeed in the role, invest
a corporate Board post where you can use in next-level development.
your expertise, but also gain new experi-
ence and perspectives. And if you are on
the short list of potential CEOs for your
company, find ways to get to know indi-
vidual Board members: work with them on
committee projects, play host when they
visit your site, join them on trips to other
company locations, ask for a walk-through
of their own business. Understanding dif-
ferent Board members’ experiences, per-
spectives, and personalities will give you
insight into the demands facing the CEO.

8 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

CEO Failure by the Numbers
Kaplan and Minton (2011) show that turnover of CEOs has increased from
15.8% to 16.8% since 2000, with average tenure down from
7 to 6 years. The list of “celebrity” CEO failures is also getting longer, proving that no one is immune.
The latest research (Hogan, Hogan, & Kaiser, 2011) confirms earlier findings: the failure rate of all executives
is nearly 50 percent.

The reasons?
1. poor business performance
2. leadership
3. self-control
4. relationship management
These causes of failure are further exacerbated during periods of change or stress.
Many CEOs seem to have ignored the findings of Finkelstein (2003) in the now-classic book
Why Smart Executives Fail. He cites these

7 deadly sins:
1. overestimating their strength and underestimating
the strength of competitors;
2. putting personal interests ahead of organizational
interests;
3. being arrogant and making reckless decisions;
4. eliminating anyone who might disagree with them;
5. ignoring operations while trying to manage their
company’s image;
6. minimizing difficult obstacles and not planning
accordingly; and
7. relying on outdated strategies and tactics.

Sources
Kaplan, S. N., & Minton, B. A. (2011). How has CEO turnover changed? International Review of Finance, 12: 57–87. doi: 10.1111/j1468-2443.2011.01135.x
Hogan, J., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2011). Management derailment. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), American psychological association handbook of industrial and organizational
psychology, vol. 3: Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 555–575). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Finkelstein, S. M. (2003). Why smart executives fail: and what you can learn from their mistakes. New York, NY: Portfolio.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 9

4 Keys to CEO Readiness
The experience of J.P.—and the candidates for
his job—paints the picture of what it takes to
invest in CEO talent. But breaking the process
down further helps companies and candidates
more clearly understand what is needed to be a
CEO and map out areas that can be developed
and improved.
Readiness Dimension Definition
Experience
Personal
Network
Relationship
10 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
CCL has experience on various sides of the
CEO equation—coaching C-suite and other top
executives; participating in succession plan-
ning and candidate development; working with
senior leadership teams on significant, strategic
organizational issues; and as experienced senior
leaders in our own careers. With this perspec-
tive, we’ve identified four keys to CEO readiness:
Having the right qualifications for the job, including
education and experience. Necessary but not sufficient
for selection.
Who you are as a person; your fit with the culture;
your ethics, values; the CEO/Board’s comfort with you
running the show.
Who you know, inside and outside the company. Can
you pick up the phone when there’s a crisis and get
the person you need to answer?
How you get along with others; whether others will
follow you as a leader; winning the respect and confi-
dence of your peers.
1. Experience Readiness.
Experience is the most obvious of the four requirements. Without the right experience, it’s difficult to
get on the short list of CEO candidates. (There are exceptions: you’re the child of the founder; the pre-
vious CEO left unexpectedly; the Board decides to take a gamble on an untested candidate who shows
early promise.)
What’s the right experience? Each CEO position is unique in terms of the experience required, but in
general CEO candidates have had:

P&L responsibility. Having responsibility for the profit and loss of a major segment of the
business is usually the single most important criteria.
A global role. Increasingly, some experience in a global role is becoming more common as a
prerequisite to CEO succession—even in organizations that have operated primarily in their do-
mestic markets historically.
Functional flexibility. Experience in different functions is a plus, particularly finance or
sales. While candidates from human resources, R&D, and legal do get tapped, they are much less
likely to do so.

Company and industry tenure also are factors in
the “right experience” equation. Some firms have
such a strong “promote from within” philosophy
that outsiders run into formidable obstacles. In
other cases, particularly where a change in direc-
tion is called for, Boards often overlook internal
candidates in favor of a person who they believe
will bring a fresh perspective. In some industries
(health care, finance) a deep understanding of the
business is seen to be essential. In others, Boards
may feel confident that CEO skills are transferable
from one industry to another. The military, too, is
often a source of top talent.
To get a handle on the specific experience re-
quirements for the post you are seeking, you’ll
want to gather information from a range of
sources.
Look to the background and career paths of
previous CEOs. What remains valued today
and what has changed? Keep in mind, what
was once considered the right experience may
not be good enough now.
Ask the current CEO and Board members.
Find out what qualifications are important
from their point of view. Don’t be surprised,
however, if there isn’t agreement. The process
of selecting the next CEO forces conversa-
tions about criteria for selection, which may
not have occurred prior. In the course of these
conversations, views are influenced and quali-
fications rise or fall in their importance.
Get outside input. Learn about your competi-
tors’ CEOs. Look beyond the celebrity CEOs
to learn from leaders who are succeeding
under the radar. Understand your industry
and future trends that will affect the direc-
tion of your company—and how you might be
prepared to lead it.
If you have time for additional job rotations, work
them into your resume. If the timeframe is tight,
take on targeted, meaningful projects that would
demonstrate untested skills. For example, ask to
be put in charge of a situation that no one else
wants to touch. You’ll gain visibility for leadership
qualities that may have been unnoticed.
Once a candidate pool has been narrowed down,
specific experience becomes less important.
Candidates who have dutifully checked all the
boxes may be stunned when comparatively less
qualified individuals are given the nod over them.
CEOs and Boards look for well-rounded individu-
als, not just well-qualified ones. This is where the
next three areas of CEO readiness come into play.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 11

2. Personal Readiness.
Once the threshold of experience has been met,
the focus shifts to how well a candidate will do
the job. Is the candidate the right person for
the role? Personal readiness—who you are, your
values, what you stand for—is essential for the
right “fit.”
The fit between the person and the role is some-
thing that CEOs and Boards give far more weight
to than most candidates realize. Candidates
believe that delivering good results consistently
trumps all other considerations but this isn’t the
case. Often, top candidates have similar track
records and it comes down to who the CEO or
Board feels most comfortable with given the
company’s current situation.
How should a candidate prepare himself or her-
self to win the personal readiness contest?
First, think about all the factors that go into who
you are. Most of us have developed deeply held
beliefs and values that influence what we think
it means to be a good leader. We’ve been shaped
by experience, and may have modeled ourselves
after someone we felt was extremely effective.
Other qualities come into play with personal
readiness as well, such as native intelligence,
comfort in the spotlight and public speaking
skills, integrity, the ability to think strategically,
openness to new ideas, judgment, and self
regulation.
As with experience, personal readiness is deter-
mined largely by the perceptions of others, and
what’s “right” depends on the situation.
To find out what others think of you, you need
to collect data. You can ask directly for feedback
on your strengths and weaknesses from trusted
sources around you. Engage an executive coach.
12 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Use a 360-degree assessment geared specifically
for top executives.
If you haven’t gotten honest feedback in some
time, it will be an interesting mix of affirmation
and unpleasantness. People don’t see you as
you see yourself; they look through their own
eyes. They take into account all kinds of data:
whether you like them or not, whether you have
supported them or competed with them, what
seems to be important to you. A single memory
of you—a stand-out business trip, a kind word,
the time you got a little carried away at the
company party—will shape their view of you.
Each person’s reality is warped; it’s not until you
gather a comprehensive view from multiple indi-
viduals that you begin to understand the whole.
Don’t forget that one of the individuals with
a “warped view” is the current CEO. Don’t be
shocked when you learn what his or her devel-
opmental advice is for you.
As far as what is the right personal fit for the
situation, remember that business challenges
come in all shapes and sizes. Turnarounds call
for a CEO with a tougher skin than a situation
where the firm is growing. The leadership style
that will effectively drive change in a command-
and-control culture may not work as well in an
interdependent, collaborative culture.
Further, what worked for the current CEO may
not be what is needed next. If you grew up in
the shadow of a powerful, successful CEO and
have emulated her style, you may believe you
have the inside track as her successor. The cur-
rent CEO may have launched operations in Chi-
na, but what if she didn’t have what it takes to
lead a global company with more than half of its
revenue coming from outside of the headquar-
ters region? Or, she may have jump-started a
major acquisition without knowing how to handle the cultural integration required
for it to work over time. The next CEO may need interpersonal skills, cultural sen-
sitivity, or a personality style that is quite different. The CEO or Board could look at
you as “more of the same” when they are looking for someone entirely different.
What can you do if you discover that you are not the person the job calls for?
The good news is that if you do have specific shortcomings, increasing evidence
points to the ability of leaders to overcome their deficits or enhance their image
with the proper training and support. You can boost your public-speaking skills
or hone your strategic thinking or practice being more decisive in your decision
making.
But what about your basic beliefs? How easy is it to change “core” behaviors?
People vary in this regard. Some leaders are comfortable displaying a wide range
of behaviors, knowing when and how to dial up and dial back on their views.
These executives are better at reading situations and adapting to them. Other
leaders over-rely on one way of doing things, whether it works consistently or not.
These leaders are clear about what they stand for but less open to feedback on
their style, less likely to change their beliefs to adapt to different situations, and
need to accept that they may not be the right person for the job if the Board is
looking for someone with a different orientation.

It’s unlikely that you can change your spots entirely—or frankly, would want
to—but with good feedback, observation, and coaching, you can do quite a lot to
change the way you come across to others. For example, if you aren’t perceived
as being bold enough, you’ll need to put an action plan in place that demon-
strates just how bold you can be. If you are seen as not considerate enough of
others, there are things you can do to shift.

What won’t work is to ignore the views and expectations of the world around you.
Crashing ahead as if your strengths alone will make you a success will add you to
the long list of very bright, talented superstars who failed as CEOs.
The best recommendation is to become more versatile. Work on your flexibility,
learn to adapt to the various situations rather than continuing to play every hand
the same way. This allows you greater range—and boosting the likelihood of the
right fit in the CEO role.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 13

3. Network Readiness.
The strength and breadth of your network also
comes into play in the CEO selection process. If
you are lacking critical internal or external con-
nections, your access and influence is limited—a
definite liability for a CEO.
Your immediate network includes your boss,
peers, and direct reports. It also includes ties
with key players throughout the system—in-
cluding suppliers and customers. The caliber of
this network indicates your knowledge of the
business and your ability to pull together the
right people as needed. The opinions of this
network also carry a lot of weight. If they are be-
hind you for the CEO job—or if they are against
you—it will become apparent as the succession
process unfolds. The time to develop the ties
and relationships with those around you is long
before your name comes up for consideration in
succession talks.
Your Board member network is also of criti-
cal importance. Some CEOs want to own the
relationship with the Board. They try to limit the
access and networking among Board members
and the executive team. Even if this is the case,
it is valuable to connect with members when-
ever possible—and in a variety of ways.
A carefully prepared presentation doesn’t give
much insight to the quality of your thinking
or your capabilities. Each Board member, if
asked, will have his or her own opinion about
how good or bad the presentation was. What
one person likes (lots of detail, plenty of slides)
another hates. Playing to the middle may get
you nowhere. Trying to figure out which Board
member carries the most influence and appeal-
ing to them is a better strategy—but still not one
that is guaranteed.
14 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
The solution is to go beyond the
formal presentations, if possible,
so Board members have a multidi-
mensional view of you as a person.
Spending time with them one-on-one,
over lunch or dinner, and discuss-
ing both business and other topics is
the best hope you have of winning
people over. Just like your peers and
subordinates, the Board imagines
what it would be like to work with
you as CEO. They want someone who
is capable, but they also are inter-
ested in a person who will listen to
their concerns, make them feel that
their contributions are valued, and be
interesting to spend time with on an
airplane.
Your resource network—who you know and can
call upon in times of need—is something that
can tip the balance in your favor as a candidate.
A large part of the CEO’s job is interfacing with
the outside world. Knowing the right people
“out there” can make winning a lot easier. If
the press starts to turn against the company,
it’s good to have a few powerful players from
the media you can call. If the government starts
asking too many questions about an acquisition
you are planning, it helps to have a politician
interested in bringing jobs to his region point
out the virtues of the deal. Learning how to
build, maintain, and work influence networks is
part of how the game is played and is one of the
areas that sitting CEOs often point to as missing
in their own preparation for the job.
If you have spent all your time fo- Network experts also remind us that
cused on internal matters, go after the best way to interest people in
the opportunity to make strong con- helping us is to help them. The best
nections on Wall Street or in Wash- networkers offer assistance before the
ington or in financial and government other person knows they need it.
centers where you do business. Your
current CEO and Board members are
usually the best brokers into these While your network readiness can be a huge
relationships—which underscores the asset, the Board won’t ask for a breakdown of
importance of having good working everyone you know as they make their succes-
relationships with them. Arranging sion decision. It’s up to you to “name-drop” at
trips together to meet key people,
or joining your CEO at meetings or
appropriate times to indicate your network.
conferences, will bolster your own For example, if a Board member asks, “Do you
network. If your CEO isn’t forthcom- think we’ll ever make money in China?” you
ing, it may take more time and effort. can offer an opinion. But it’s more powerful if
Working through the connections you
you can say, “Well, I just spoke with (so and
already have will make the task easier.
so) who is an expert on the subject and he said
If you are from McKinsey, GE, Procter something I found very interesting . . . ,” and
& Gamble, or another company that
tends to “export” CEO talent, you then connect the dots.
may already have a network of fellow
CEOs you can call upon for advice. In areas that you know are of concern
Usually, a few well-placed calls can to the Board, do your homework.
put you in touch with the person you Build your networks of experts and
need to know. If you don’t have the demonstrate your willingness to learn
luxury of this “built-in” network, you’ll about the topic.
need to create your own. Attending a
cohort executive education program
is one way to meet people. Attend-
ing industry conferences or the World
Economic Forum is another. But don’t
simply increase the size of your net-
work; instead, identify a few individu-
als you wish to know and “go deep” in
spending time getting to know them.

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 15

4. Relationship Readiness.
Relationship readiness has to do with how you interact with
others. The CEO’s job involves making business decisions, to
be certain. But Boards look for someone who can make good
decisions and maintain effective relationships. They would
prefer not to have a CEO who will drive other talented execu-
tives out of the organization.
Relationship readiness is tied to emotional intelligence, not
about being a “nice guy” or creating deep personal friend-
ships. It’s rooted in respect—CEOs who show respect for oth-
ers typically find themselves much better supported by their
teams than those with outsized egos and poor people skills.
Of course, times may call for a CEO who is tough, single-
minded, and commanding. Cleaning house after a period of
decline and neglect may not be seen as showing respect or
building relationships. But eventually, things will stabilize.
When that happens, the Board will want a consensus builder
and confidence-inspirer. If you don’t have the range, be care-
ful about the position for which you apply.
To gauge relationship readiness, CEO candidates need to ask
themselves—and get honest assessments from others—ques-
tions like:

• Do I follow through on my commitments?

• Do I listen to what others have to say?
• Do I mentor others?
• Do I give tough feedback in a straightforward manner?
• Am I able to work my way through conflicts productively?
• Do I leave room for other people in my conversations?
• Am I open to people telling me I’m wrong?
• Am I sensitive to dynamics around diversity?
• How hard is it for me to recognize the contributions
of others and allow them to take center stage?
• Am I able to see that others are capable of making
better decisions than me in their areas of expertise?

16 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

Your relationship readiness is also con-
nected to your private life. How you
relate to people and manage your life
outside of work can have an impact on
your effectiveness as CEO.
Have you been able to maintain some
balance in your life as you have ascend-
ed to your current position? Can you—
are you willing to—manage the even
greater level of stress that accompanies
the role of CEO? Have you come to a
reasonable resolution of the work/life
tug-of-war that comes with the terri-
tory for many families? Is your personal
life a trail of shattered relationships or
one that reflects emotional maturity?
Ultimately, relationship readiness is
about being human, keeping it togeth-
er, and making the world a better place.
It’s about admitting limitations and
learning from mistakes, in public.
It’s about taking on pressure but not
pushing on others unnecessarily.
It’s about people knowing they can
count on you, wanting to follow you,
and feeling appreciated for what they
bring to the table.
It’s about people really missing you—
not celebrating—when you’re gone.
©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 17
The Path to CEO Success Starts Here
At the beginning of this paper, I noted that CCL recommends that each CEO candidate be given a
tailored opportunity to bridge his or her readiness gaps before a selection is made. Here are steps you
can take to make that happen:
STEP 1: Assemble your
development team.
You can’t do the work to prepare to become the
next CEO on your own. It takes a small village of
people who are willing to help. Ideally, you have a
supportive CEO, understanding co-workers, and a
devoted family who are willing to be brutally hon-
est with you for your own good. Even with these,
you may find that you need the additional assis-
tance of an executive coach, a retired CEO men-
tor, or participation in a structured development
program to address your development needs.
STEP 2: Collect data. Rate
your own readiness.
If you know you have major career deficiencies,
behavioral derailers, or misgivings, address them
first. If you haven’t done a multi-rater (360) as-
sessment in the past three years, you’re overdue.
You need to know your strengths as well as your
development needs. You might also find it helpful
to work with an expert who can take you through
a thorough personality assessment. Once you’ve
done the initial assessments, seek additional
feedback from the CEO or Board. Once you do,
you will have plenty more to think about and
work on.
18 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
STEP 3: Create a development
plan and timetable.
Ask your coach, peers, and others about the best
and fastest ways to close the gaps. Look at the ta-
ble below for ideas, too. Be realistic in how quick-
ly you can achieve your goals. Once you have the
plan, pause to reflect on whether you are willing
to do the hard work required before proceeding.
Be sure you want the CEO post enough to do the
development work it will take to get there.
STEP 4: Implement your
development plan.
Do the work. Attend the program you have se-
lected, pursue the network connections, tackle
the projects that will show you’re capable, stretch
your comfort zone. Listen to feedback along the
way; there’s no sense in undertaking the work if
you’re going to blow through it without taking it
seriously.
STEP 5: Reassess.
Check with key sources to see how your candi-
dacy is viewed. Address any remaining doubts.
Readiness Requirement Issues to Be Addressed Potential Solutions

Lacking P&L experience Accelerated job rotation

Ready for the world that was, Gather information on current
not the world that will be requirements from multiple
Experience
parties
Narrow expertise
Targeted projects that
No time abroad address gaps

Understand the real criteria

Not a good fit for the job being used to make succession
Lacking some important decisions
skills/competencies Gather feedback data using
Personal objective methods (third party)
Self-perception doesn’t
match reality Undertake intensive develop-
Poor judgment ment, assisted by executive coach
if necessary
Lack of self-control
Get more input into decisions

Examine why you are out of con-

trol and address underlying issues
Accompany CEO to key meetings
Build relationships with Board
members
Network Lacking critical internal or
external connections Tap existing network to leverage
their connections to others
Target desired connections and
pursue them
Find a retired CEO mentor
Take a cohort program for
development

Lacking emotional intelligence Work on transparency, humility

Inability to establish and main- Resolve outstanding work/life
Relationship tain effective relationships with issues
reports and others Listen to and appreciate
Issues in personal life carry over others’ input
into work

©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 19

 Conclusion
Getting tapped to be CEO is the result of much work,
over many years. It’s a competitive process for a rea-
son. By investing in your experience, as well as building
your personal, network, and relationship readiness, you
will have earned a chance at the top job.
More important, the four readiness factors prepare you
to do the job. The goal is not merely to win the succes-
sion game—it is to lead a successful, healthy company
into an uncertain future.

Are you ready?

20 ©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

About the Author
William Pasmore, PhD, joined the
Center for Creative Leadership in
January 2008 as Senior Vice Presi-
dent and Organizational Practice
Leader. An international authority in
organizational leadership, he leads
CCL’s efforts to help clients develop
the larger organizational leadership
systems that increase their overall
performance and enable their in-
dividual leaders to thrive. Pasmore
previously served as partner in the
Corporate Learning & Organizational
Development Practice of consulting
firm Oliver Wyman Delta, where he
headed the global research prac-
tice and worked personally with top
executives of Fortune 500 companies
on organizational architecture, suc-
cession planning, talent management,
and strategic planning. He holds a B.S.
in Aeronautical Engineering/Industri-
al Management and a PhD in Admin-
istrative Sciences, both from Purdue
University. E-mail: pasmoreb@ccl.org
©2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 21
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